


What Happens in Texas...

by Soph_Writes_118



Series: Wildfires Happen in Texas and LA [1]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV), 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: 9-1-1 Season 4, Angst, Crossover, Dancing, Drunken Confessions, Drunken Kissing, Firehouse 118 as Family (9-1-1 TV), First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, M/M, Meddling, Misunderstandings, Oblivious, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Relationship Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Sharing a Bed, Slow Dancing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-15 06:14:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29059581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soph_Writes_118/pseuds/Soph_Writes_118
Summary: A just-for-fun imagining of the 9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Lone Star crossover story.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: Wildfires Happen in Texas and LA [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2175999
Comments: 131
Kudos: 480





	1. The Road Trip

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Season 4!
> 
> So I am beyond pumped for the crossover (aren’t we all?), and wanted to write my own version to fill the gaps, because no matter how good the episode will be, I’m sure they won’t be able to fit in all the moments we’re imagining and hoping for. So this is my interpretation. Written in a bit of a rush but I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> I currently have 3 parts to this story planned. Part 1 is the road trip to Texas, Part 2 will probably run pretty parallel to the episode so it’s at least a little bit consistent with the canon, and then Part 3 goes off on its own crazy wish-fulfilment tangent!

“We are ready to roll.”

Eddie had finished the truck’s inventory and was satisfied that they were ready to hit the road to Austin. The axes were sharpened and secured, the hoses were patched, the water levels topped up and their kit stowed. As their resident Texan, Eddie seemed to have nominated himself as the leader of this little road trip, and Bobby had entrusted him with the keys and strict instructions for how to manage Hen and Buck in the event of fatigue, hunger, heatstroke and injury. He was smiling when he said it, but Eddie couldn’t help but feel the weight of responsibility for his crew settle on his shoulders, especially as they were travelling to his home state. He was going through the list again in his head when Buck interrupted his thoughts.

“You think it’s gonna be weird?” he asked, glancing sideways at Eddie. “Fighting fires with other departments?”

Eddie shook his head, hearing a tinge of uncharacteristic nerves in Buck’s voice and seeking to reassure him without making a big deal out of it.

“Not really. We work with other departments all the time. It’s just same calls, different time zone, right?”

“I guess.” Buck straightened up and wandered along the side of the truck towards him. “I wish Chim and Bobby could have come with us though.”

“I know.” Eddie fought a smile and took a few steps closer to Buck automatically. “When Hen calls you a golden retriever, she’s not wrong. You’re never happier than when you’re surrounded by your people.”

He also remembered, from personal experience, that Buck didn’t always play nicely with new people. But he was sure that once they got there, the excitement would take over and Buck would be in his element. He couldn’t help but make friends once he let go of that initial defensiveness; people were naturally drawn to his energy, the joy and enthusiasm he projected out like a beacon. He’d eroded Eddie’s natural defences in the space of about a week, and that was in spite of their rocky start.

“I’ll have you know I’m very loyal to my people, and I miss them when I’m not with them,” Buck pouted. “I haven’t seen Chris in so long I’m getting withdrawal symptoms...”

“I know. And he misses you too.”

Eddie bit back the rest of the sentence that longed to fall from his lips.

_We both miss you. The house feels empty without you._

But, as always, fear closed up his throat, stifling the words. Not for the first time, Eddie wished he were better at expressing himself, so he could find a way through to Buck with words rather than just staring at him and hoping he might telepathically pick up on his thought waves. As Buck met his gaze now, Eddie’s heart stuttered against his chest. Something about the way Buck looked at him with those eyes – the exact same shade as the ocean – felt like he could see straight into Eddie’s soul. They practically read each other’s minds on calls, who was to say Buck couldn’t just look at him and perform the same trick now, and read the feelings hiding in plain sight that Eddie always fought so hard to tamp down?

Eddie looked away from Buck, checking their gear for the third time even though he knew it was all in perfect condition, but needing a moment to compose himself. The shadow haunting the edges of Buck’s face also played on his mind. He’d been quiet and withdrawn for a while, like he wasn’t quite there with them all the time, not quite himself. Maybe Eddie was being paranoid, but it seemed to himthat Buck was hiding something from them all.

As if he’d heard Eddie’s thoughts, which was not reassuring in the least, Buck rallied, hitching a smile into place as the frown momentarily vanished.

“So, Texas? And with our own native guide too. I’m pumped!”

“Me too. It’ll be fun.” Their final travelling companion had arrived, dispelling the tension, to Eddie’s relief. Hen grinned at both of them, noticing how Buck and Eddie had drawn automatically closer together while they were speaking and were now standing practically shoulder to shoulder as they looked round at her.

“I’ve never been to Texas...”

*

Chimney had just retrieved a beer from the fridge that night when his phone lit up, vibrating across the kitchen counter. Frowning, he moved to pick it up, shrugging at Maddie’s puzzled look. When he saw the caller ID, his eyebrows rose, but he kept a neutral tone as he answered.

“Hey Hen, what’s up? You don’t usually phone me...”

“I’ll tell you _what’s up_ , Chimney. Do you know how many hours it takes to drive to Austin?”

“No, but I have a feeling you’re about to tell me,” Chim replied, settling back against the kitchen counter and making sure his beer was in reach.

“ _20_ _hours_. And do you know how many Buck Facts can fit into 20 hours?”

“I lived with him long enough that I can imagine.”

“Imagine it, then double it. And if it’s not Buck Facts, it’s Buck saying ‘Ooh, did you know there are 1.5 million bats in Austin that fly out from under Congress Avenue Bridge every night?’ and Eddie saying ‘Yeah, they come out every summer, you’d like it. I’ll have to take you over there and show you if we get the time.’ And now we’re in El Paso, and Buck wants the Eddie Diaz Starline Tour, like we need to see where he learned to pitch a baseball or where he got laid for the first time.”

“Those are very specific. Are they legit stops on the tour?” Chim asked, smirking.

“I was making a wild guess, though I wouldn’t be surprised. And don’t even get me _started_ on the playlist they’ve pulled together for this trip...if I hear _Old Town Road_ one more time I’m going to take Lil Nas X’s advice, get a horse and ride it over both of them...”

“I’m sorry, Hen, I don’t know what to tell you,” Chim managed to choke out through his laughter.

“You can tell me why you’re not here suffering with me, _Han_!” his best friend replied. “You _left_ me with them! And don’t give me any weakass excuses about your girlfriend being pregnant...”

“What part of ‘pregnant women are more vulnerable to Covid’ do you not get, _Wilson_?”

Across the apartment, Maddie looked up. Chimney shook his head, grinning and mouthing, ‘I’ll tell you later.’

“Albert could take care of her again! Or _Athena_ , or Bobby. I am third-wheeling with LA’s most oblivious couple for a _week_!”

“Sorry kid, you’re just gonna have to suck it up. Ask to work with one of the Texans so you get less exposure time. Besides, you’re a badass medic, soon-to-be doctor. You can deal with the Buckley-Diazes for a week.”

Hen sighed.

“I’m not so sure. If I come back alone, know that there’s a Buck-and-Eddie-shaped grave somewhere out in the Texas desert.”

“Copy that. Do you want me to get Bobby to give you a call for a pep talk?”

“He’d only say I was being over-dramatic.”

“He’s not wrong...”

Hen huffed indignantly.

“And I wonder why we’re friends.”

“Because you know I’ve always got your back –”

“Ha!”

“– Even if it’s at a distance.”

Chim heard her sigh at the end of the line and smiled to himself.

“I miss you too, Hen,” he said, and waited for a sharp retort, a sarcastic comeback or put down. Nothing came, and the silence told him that he was actually pretty on the money with this one. For all their jokes, Hen and Chimney rarely worked without the other one close by. They were an extension of each other on a call, thoughts and movements so in sync that he was often told it looked like they could read each other’s minds. And even though he knew it wouldn’t be for long, a small part of Chim felt the distance between them like a physical ache.

To break up the emotion threatening to make their call heavier than either of them intended, Chim fell back on his trusty ally, humour.

“Where are you, by the way? Don’t tell they’re within earshot of this call?”

“Of course not,” Hen snorted, returning to form. “We’ve stopped for gas. Eddie’s paying, and Buck’s trying to persuade him to use the department credit card to buy five bags of candy as ‘expenses’.”

“Ooh, no one wants to be at the receiving end of that sugar high.” Chimney took a sip of his beer. “Are you staying with Eddie’s parents?”

“Yeah, they’re putting us up for the night. I think Eddie’s delaying us getting there for as long as possible so we spend as little time with them as he can manage. He’s already told us we’re getting out of there at sun up.”

“Weird. They seemed nice enough when we met them at his graduation, didn’t they?”

“Yeah, but you know what parents are like. They’re very good at presenting themselves as respectable, normal people to strangers, then when you’re alone with them their true selves come out.”

“Like a psychopath,” Chimney retorted flippantly. Across the room, Maddie looked up again with a cocnerned expression.

“Well you know what they say about birds of a feather,” Hen said, too used to Chimney to react to his psychopath reference. “None of us have gold star parenting in our lives. It’s why we all gravitate towards Bobby and Athena, and why we all over-compensate with our own kids.”

“Speak for yourself.”

“You just wait until Mango’s born. You’ll see exactly what I mean then.” She sighed. “I’d better go, they’re coming back.” She laughed, amused despite herself. “Eddie caved, I see at least three jumbo-sized bags of sweets in Buck’s hands. It’s gonna be a long night...”

*

_A Text Conversation between Chimney Han and Henrietta Wilson_

**Hen Wilson:** Chim, I’m gonna kill you

**Chimney Han:** Good morning to you too, Henrietta

Or should I say Yee-Haw? 🤠

**Hen Wilson:** Don’t start any of that cowboy crap with me. As soon as Buck or Eddie put on a stetson I’m kicking them out of the truck and letting them walk back to LA

**Chimney Han:** What happened now…?

**Hen Wilson:** Buck fell asleep when we left this morning, because Eddie insisted on leaving at the break of dawn so we wouldn’t have to spend any more time with his parents. He ended up stretched out across the back seat with his head on Eddie’s leg, and Eddie covered him with their turnout jackets so he wouldn’t get cold under the AC 😴

**Chimney Han:** Aww…

**Hen Wilson:** And Eddie gave Buck this dopey smile that I think I last saw on you when you got drunk that night we went out before quarantine, when you started telling me why Maddie was your soulmate...what is it about the Buckleys that turns perfectly normal men into jello? 🤔

**Chimney Han:** OK, she still doesn’t know that happened, and that’s how we’re going to keep it, OK? 🤐

**Hen Wilson** **:** You do know you’re having a baby with her, right? You’re allowed to have romantic feelings for the woman…🧐😘

**Chimney Han:** I thought this was about _your_ issues, not mine

**Hen Wilson:** They’re not MY issues, they’re Buck and Eddie’s. I have never met two more clueless people in my life 🤦♀️

I think they think I can’t see them from the driver’s seat. What do they think the internal mirror does?!

**Chimney Han:** Wait, you’re not driving now, are you? 🙅♂️

**Hen Wilson:** NO. Eddie’s driving. Buck’s riding shotgun and talking his ear off to keep him awake. He didn’t volunteer to do that when _I_ was driving...

**Chimney Han:** I haven’t had nearly enough coffee for this conversation. Which reminds me, I should be making Maddie’s daily cup of coffee…☕

**Hen Wilson:** Don’t you dare leave me! We’ve still got 4 hours before we get to Austin, I need someone to share this saccharine horror show of a journey with me

**Chimney Han:** OK, but I’m just saying, if Maddie gets mad at me because her coffee gets cold, it’s your fault. And I lived with Buck for like 6 months already this year, I’ve done my time

**Hen Wilson:** That was your choice. If you’d gone back to Maddie when Eddie and I went home then you could have come with us on this little working holiday to Texas and spared me this torture, and we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now

**Chimney Han:** Oh I think we would have. Eye rolls just don’t cut it sometimes

🙄🙄🙄 See? Even as emojis it’s not the same

So come on then...what else have they done since you left El Paso?

**Hen Wilson:** Buck shifted in his sleep and murmured something, and I swear if he hadn’t seen me looking Eddie would have run his fingers through his hair. He covered it (badly) by patting Buck’s shoulder instead

**Chimney Han:** Subtle. And here I thought Buck was the more grabby one 🤗

**Hen Wilson:** He is...

**Chimney Han:** 😲 Oh dear…

**Hen Wilson:** You’ve got that right. If he’s not shoulder bumping Eddie he’s touching his arm or leaning into his space and reading the same articles or watching the same videos on his phone. They called Christopher together on FaceTime last night. Christopher was saying something about invisible string and Buck nearly cried

**Chimney Han:** Invisible String? Isn’t that a Taylor Swift song? 🤔

**Hen Wilson:** I really hope you know that because your girlfriend does

**Chimney Han:** We live in LA. Don’t you watch Access Hollywood or ESPN?

Besides, there is nothing wrong with a man liking T-Swift 😁

**Hen Wilson:** Fair, I take that back

I don’t know what they were talking about, but Buck was looking at Eddie all misty-eyed afterwards and talking about what a wonderful kid he raised, and I nearly threw up my tacos

**Chimney Han:** 🤮

**Hen Wilson:** Then this morning Buck decided he wanted to buy Buck an El Paso Chihuahuas baseball strip ⚾

**Chimney Han:** _Chihuahuas?_ In the whole wide world of animal sports team names, they pick a handbag dog?

**Hen Wilson:** Chim, focus…

**Chimney Han:** Not the El Paso Coyotes or El Paso Scorpions…

**Hen Wilson:** Chim…

**Chimney Han:** Even the El Paso Vultures would have a better ring to it!

**Hen Wilson:** 🙄🙄🙄

You’re right, eye rolls just don’t cut it

**Chimney Han:** Fine. Continue your story

**Hen Wilson:** So Buck wanted to buy a strip for Christopher, but Eddie wasn’t convinced

**Chimney Han:** Probably because it’s a shocker of a team name…

**Hen Wilson:** But Buck said that chihuahuas are small but tough and scrappy, and they don’t let anything keep them down, just like Christopher

**Chimney Han:** Aww

**Hen Wilson:** I literally thought Eddie was about to jump his bones there and then

**Chimney Han:** Eww

**Hen Wilson:** I know you think Buck’s talking to some ‘Covid Crush’…

**Chimney Han:** I’m _telling_ you he is. He was on that iPad all the time when I was there, and Albert says he’s still disappearing for long conversations with this mystery woman

**Hen Wilson:** Doesn’t mean it’s a girlfriend. Or even a girl at all. It could be Eddie

**Chimney Han:** I know what Eddie’s voice sounds like, Hen. No, this is definitely a woman

**Hen Wilson:** Has no one else heard of headphones? I mean, Buck’s loft ain’t exactly private…after 3 months I feel we all know each other too well...

**Chimney Han:** Yeah, there’s just some things I never wanted to know about any of you. Who knew drains could get clogged with that much hair?

**Hen Wilson:** And how did Buck get toothpaste on the ceiling again?

**Chimney Han:** He claimed Eddie walked in on him brushing his teeth and surprised him...

**Hen Wilson:** 😒

OK, I’m calling BS on your girlfriend theory

**Chimney Han:** So who is she then?He’s being really secretive about it. Maddie keeps asking about her and he just ducks the questions. He won’t even tell Albert, and they’re living together

**Hen Wilson:** Does that sound like Buck to you? If he’s dating someone new everyone knows it. Whoever she is, she’s not a new love interest

**Chimney Han:** _Then who is she?_

**Hen Wilson:** 🤷♀️

How’s 🥭 this morning?

**Chimney Han:** 😍

Firing field goals like an NFL kicker 🏈

**Hen Wilson:** Sounds painful

When are you gonna tell me if it’s a boy or a girl?

**Chimney Han:** How many times do I have to tell you we don’t know?

**Hen Wilson:** 😒

**Chimney Han:** What are the lovebirds up to now?

**Hen Wilson:** Buck’s trying to convince Eddie that he can build Chris an accessible surfboard, like he bought and built him that skateboard a couple of months back. Eddie’s trying to pretend that he’s just humouring Buck, but the internal mirror tells me otherwise 🥰

I swear to you, Chim, the chemistry is off the charts here. If we don’t get smoked out by these wildfires, I might choke to the death on the sexual tension instead ☠️

**Chimney Han:** Good luck sharing a bunk room with them 🤣

**Hen Wilson:** I have earplugs, an eye mask and noise cancelling headphones. I’m as ready as I’ll ever be for earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis from the other side of the room 🙃

**Chimney Han:** No amount of coffee will ever be enough to prepare me for those mental images… 😳

**Hen Wilson:** 🤣🤣🤣

**Chimney Han:** You’re evil

**Hen Wilson:** 😈 Serves you right for not being out here with me

**Chimney Han:** Would it help if we named the baby Henrietta?

**Hen Wilson:** So you ARE having a girl?!

**Chimney:** Nah, I meant if it’s a girl OR a boy

**Hen Wilson:** OK, I’m done here

Some of us have actual work to do, you know, fighting wildfires, saving a city 🔥

**Chimney Han:** Make sure you don’t get burned by the Buckley-Diaz fire 🔥

**Hen Wilson:** I repeat: eye mask, ear plugs, noise-cancelling headphones.

And, worse case scenario, therapy with Frank…


	2. Welcome to Texas

“Buck. Wake up, we’re here.”

Hen’s soft voice jolted Buck awake, to the view of a smoke-filled Texas sky. Noticing that he’d drooled on the window in his sleep, he hastily wiped it with his sleeve and opened the door into a wall of saturation.

“Oh hoo, what is up with the air?” he asked, stepping down onto the ground and squinting, trying to kick his sleep-addled brain back into gear.

“Wildfire, remember?” Hen retorted sarkily, following him out of the truck onto the steps and looking up at the orange-tinted sky. “That’s why we’re here.”

“I mean the way it _feels_. Like being slapped with a wet towel.”

“It’s called the humidity,” Eddie said, striding past both of them and taking a deep breath of soggy air, right at home. “Welcome to Texas, Buck.”

Buck stared at him. Eddie was suspiciously cheerful for a man who’d just endured 20 hours in the truck. Whatever he said about being glad he moved away from his parents, Buck couldn’t help but think Eddie was just a little bit happy to be back in his home state.

*

_Text conversation between Chimney Han and Henrietta Wilson_

**Chimney Han:** Howdy partner! How’s it going in the Lone Star state? 🤠🤠

 **Hen Wilson:** Fire’s pretty bad. Local captain gave a good speech to the troops though. Feels like we’re at war, so Eddie, of course, is right at home

I thought Buck was about to get stuck on by HR in another state earlier though…

Have you heard of #Firefox?

 **Chimney Han:** Didn’t she go viral in Miami for jumping off a bridge to save someone?

 **Hen Wilson:** 🤷

Whoever she is, Buck was gawping at her and creeping everybody out. Eddie thumped him in the arm for it

 **Chimney Han:** #JealousysABitch

 **Hen Wilson:** 🤣 Well now she’s buddied up with Eddie and Buck is pissed…

 **Chimney Han:** #TheyreSoObliviousIQuit

 **Hen Wilson:** I mean, I get it, she’s hot, but let the poor girl breathe! 🙄

 **Chimney Han:** Did you manage to escape babysitting detail?

 **Hen Wilson:** Hell yes I did! Guess who volunteered for base camp medical centre? 🙋

 **Chimney Han:** Smart move. Buck can’t follow you in there…

 **Hen Wilson:** Not unless he gets himself injured, which is still highly likely…🙄

And Eddie’s volunteered to be the medic on a ‘Strike Force’ going up into the hills to look for a group of stranded kids

 **Chimney Han:** Ah, Captain America rides again…🦸♂️

 **Hen Wilson:** You said it. And Buck’s stuck on ditch detail ⛏️

 **Chimney Han: 😂** Yeah, all that considered I think I’d still rather be here with Bobby and Maddie and Mango

 **Hen Wilson:** Any updates?

 **Chimney Han:** On what…?

 **Hen Wilson:** Well I wasn’t talking about Bobby…

About Mango? You know, your unborn child?

 **Chimney Han:** Oh right. I thought you meant...never mind 🤐

 **Hen Wilson:** 🤔🤔

 **Chimney Han:** 🥭 is all good 😍 We now have a DVD of the Greatest Film We Ever Made 🎬

 **Hen Wilson:** Eww. Don’t _ever_ let me watch that film 🙅

 **Chimney Han:** Not _that_ kind of film! Get your mind out of the gutter! It’s the ultrasound video!

 **Hen Wilson: 😌** Why didn’t you say so? I’ll watch _that_ film!

 **Chimney Han:** Actually, no you won’t, because unlike most people we can show it to, you’ll be able to tell what sex the baby is straightaway

 **Hen Wilson:** WHY WON’T YOU TELL ME IF YOU’RE HAVING A BOY OR A GIRL?!

😒😒😒

*

“Mayday, mayday, we are going down, this is a distress call. Mayday, mayday, we are going down.”

The pilot’s voice was so calm. That was the thought that jammed in Eddie's mind as he and Marjan stared in horror at the helicopter spinning through the sky towards the hillside. Even in the sweltering heat and humidity, icy dread flooded Eddie’s veins, and for a second, the sky darkened and the helicopter was his, on a collision course for the Afghan desert. By the time the images cleared from his mind, the helicopter had vanished beyond the horizon line, along with radio contact.

Suddenly all that time comparing Instagram accounts with Marjan, the borderline flirting he’d ventured into for the first time in years, seemed so dumb. When the others returned, grim-faced, they told them that the helicopter had landed within the active burn zone. If they didn’t die in the crash, they would be engulfed in flames. It would be up to Commander De Leon to OK any rescue mission.

*

By the time they’d been relieved from fire line duty, Buck had come around to Mateo and TK. They were playfully arguing the merits of Captain America and Iron Man as they reached the camp, and Buck’s smile died at the sight of Eddie and Marjan sat together on the back of an ATV. Repressing a stab of jealousy with difficulty, Buck followed TK’s lead instead and forced a laugh.

“I see the Strike Team’s already got their feet up,” TK teased.

“Oh you guys must be exhausted, all that go karting up and down the hill,” Buck added. Then he clocked their expressions and his smile faded. Eddie’s face was shuttered, the way he always did when he was really worried and trying to hold it in.

“You didn’t hear, did you?” Marjan said, and Buck saw sympathy in her eyes as she looked at TK.

“Hear what?” he asked her.

Five minutes later, TK had forced Commander De Leon to meet with the combined crews of the 118 and the 126. But their combined pleas did little to move him.

“Nobody else is risking their lives tonight,” he told TK. “Your father would be the first one to agree with me.”

Scowling, TK turned on his heel and stormed out of the tent. And Buck finally notice the resemblance between TK and Captain Strand who had led their briefing hours before. Who Hen had convinced to send up a helicopter to look for a missing boy. Hen, who was only here because she had two kids to support and medical school to fund. And now they were both missing on a hillside in hell.

Well, Buck had never been one for letting the rules stand in his way when people he cared about were in danger...

*

Eddie could sense something Buck was up to something from the moment his eyes followed TK out of the tent, brow furrowed in concern. He was convinced of it when he looked up from his third slice and realised Buck hadn’t weighed in on him for his choice of Taco Pizza, which Buck saw as a sin against food. And when his eyes scanned the benches and didn’t land on Buck or TK, his heart sank and his internal Buck Alarm sounded.

With a sigh, Eddie leaned across the bench to catch Judd’s eye.

“We have a situation.”

Judd caught on quick, looking around the clearing and pulling a face.

“Let me guess. Your Buck’s gone off on some fool errand with TK to rescue Miss Henrietta and the Cap.”

“He does have a bad habit of doing that,” Eddie said. “I think we ought to check our trucks.”

Judd sighed and stood, wiping his hands on his fireproof trousers.

“OK, 126, roll out!” he barked.

Having confirmed that the keys to the 126’s truck had disappeared from the board, the crew hurried down the hill and split up to make sure their targets didn’t drive off before they caught up with them. Judd, Paul and Mateo took one avenue and Eddie and Marjan looped around to the far end and walked up to meet them. It didn’t take long before they located TK and Buck, running in a low crouch across the makeshift parking lot and talking in urgent whispers.

“Hey, Dumbass and Dumbasser!”

TK and Buck froze at the sound of Judd’s booming voice and slowly turned towards him.

“Did you stop and consider the consequences of what you’re about to do at all?” Judd asked, striding up to meet them, Paul frowning beside him.

“You obviously don’t know Buck,” Eddie called in answer, and saw Buck wince as he recognised his voice and turned to face him guiltily. He scowled at Buck, shining his torch deliberately in his eyes but holding off laying into him in front of the 126.

“You two didn’t really think that you could sneak off and drive into wildfires did you?” Marjan asked sternly.

“Yes?” TK replied hesitantly.

“Well that ain’t gonna happen,” Paul said.

“Think you’re gonna stop us?” Buck asked defensively.

“Stop you?” Mateo asked incredulously. “We’re going with you.”

“Come on, let’s go!” Eddie shouted, holding the truck door open for everyone. As Buck climbed on last, he punched him in the shoulder again.

“You gotta at least tell us before you go off and do dumb shit like that,” Judd barked at TK as he and Buck took their seats.

“Yeah, we’re a family, we do stuff like that together,” Mateo added proudly, and Marjan rolled her eyes.

“Most dysfunctional family I’ve ever been a part of,” she muttered.

“Don’t see you transferring any time soon,” Paul said.

“Yeah, you love it really,” Mateo added, and Marjan fought a smile as she shook her head.

As the truck wound its way up the hillside, Eddie elbowed Buck in the ribs.

“Really? You were gonna just take off?” he muttered in a low voice.

Buck shrugged, a little ashamed, a little defiant.

“I knew you wouldn’t approve,” he said quietly.

“Of you running off into a wildfire where you might get killed?” Eddie fired back, eyebrows arched, nudging him in the shoulder again. “Damn right I wouldn’t approve. But at least I’d be there beside you.”

Buck looked up at him with a flash of hope and vulnerability that melted all of Eddie’s irritation at once.

“What, you’d have come with me anyway?”

_Of course I would. Where you go I go._

Eddie bit back the words that wanted to escape his lips and opted for something safer.

“You think Christopher would let me go back to LA without you?”

Buck’s face instantly softened at the mention of Christopher, and Eddie turned his attention to the hellish outside as his thoughts circled back to the missing member of their crew.

“Besides, Hen would do the same for us.”

*

_Unsent text from Henrietta Wilson to Chimney Han_

**Hen Wilson:** Chim, I did something that ranks pretty high on our Buckley Scale of Brave But Dumb...

It involves a helicopter, a mineshaft and two crates of TNT...

Not sure I’m gonna get out of this one this time...and maybe I don’t deserve to…

If I don’t come home, please promise me you’ll look after Karen and Denny and Nia

I’m sorry. I gave it everything I had, but the fire outran us

Thank you for being the best friend I’ve ever had. I love you

You’re gonna be such a great dad.

*

Buck launched himself out of the truck after TK as soon as it rolled to a stop, close to the wreckage of the helicopter. TK threw himself to the ground and crawled beneath the body of the chopper to check inside. Buck launched himself into the air, catching hold of one of the landing skids, now suspended above their heads, and used it to help him scramble onto the side of the helicopter, which now faced the sky. From up here he had a pretty good view of the devastated landscape around them, smoke still rising from the charred skeletons of trees. He saw no tell-tale yellow flash of fire department jackets.

“They’re not here. Buck, they’re not here!” TK called, as he clambered back out of the cockpit into the smoky air.

“They made it out!” Buck shouted, telling himself as much as the rest of them.

Judd ordered them all to fan out and search, but Buck lingered a few extra seconds to orient himself, hoping against hope that Hen might appear on the horizon.

“Buck.”

Eddie called to him from the ground. As Buck dropped to a crouch and prepared to swing back down to earth, he caught a glimpse of Eddie’s face. He wasn’t looking at Buck or the landscape around them. His eyes were fixed on the wreckage of the helicopter, but his gaze was distant.

Landing beside Eddie with a thud, Buck nudged his shoulder with his.

“You good?”

Eddie blinked and nodded once, shortly.

“Guys! Guys! Over here! Over here!”

Marjan’s yell drew their attention, a welcome reality check that sent Buck and Eddie sprinting from away from the helicopter and sprinted towards the sound of her voice, converging down the hill with the rest of the crew around the collapsed entrance to an abandoned mineshaft. Outside, two charred yellow jackets were fixed to makeshift posts in the ground.

Once they’d ripped the debris away, TK was the first one through. But Buck was right behind him. They climbed into the remains of the mineshaft, and Buck dropped to his knees in front of Hen, checking her for a pulse, for any obvious injuries. With the oxygen filtering in from outside, she revived a little with a groan. With Eddie’s help, he lifted her up onto her feet, and supported her out into the open.

“It’s OK, Hen, we’re here, we got you.”

“Am I dreaming this?”

“No, we’re real,” Buck reassured her.

“Good. I’ve spent enough time with someone else’s imaginary people today, I don’t need my own...especially not you two. The road trip was enough.”

Eddie shot a confused look at Buck over Hen’s head. Buck shook his head and laughed. Having Hen back with them, safe and alive, suddenly made everything that bit funnier.

*

_Text from Chimney Han to Henrietta Wilson_

**Chimney Han:** A HELICOPTER?!?! Are you f***ing kidding me Wilson??

*

Several hours later, Eddie was checking their truck over ahead of the drive back to LA when he heard TK call Buck’s name round the other side.

“You really put yourself out there,” TK said, his voice swelling with gratitude. “Can’t thank you enough.”

“It’s what we do, right?” Buck replied. Everyone thought Buck threw himself into these dangerous, reckless situations for recognition, for fortune and glory, but Eddie privately thought it was just ingrained into Buck’s DNA. He charged into danger with a lack of concern for his own safety because he didn’t value his own life, which drove Eddie crazy, but it also showed the depths of his compassion, and it was hard to get mad at someone that good.

“Ooh, hey, if you ever find yourself in LA, maybe we should get together?”

Eddie smiled to himself, cleaning dust off the headlights with a rag. Buck really was the embodiment of a golden retriever, seeking out friends everywhere he went. Once that initial barrier was down, he would befriend anyone.

“I gotta mention though, I already have a boyfriend and it’s pretty serious, so uh...”

Eddie almost dropped the rag he’d been cleaning the lights with. He stared in the direction of their voices, blood pounding in his ears. Where had TK got that from? Had Buck been giving off vibes that said he was interested in TK? Or...had he actually been flirting with TK?

All the years he’d known Buck, Eddie had always assumed that he was just interested in women. His track record spoke for itself, and he’d never mentioned any guys in his history, never dated any guys while they’d known each other. So what was TK seeing that Eddie hadn’t?

“Hey, it was really nice meeting you, man,” TK said, into the stunned silence. “Take care.”

It was only the sound of his footsteps coming closer that forced Eddie into action, as he realised TK would round the side of their truck at any moment and find him frozen on the spot, eavesdropping.

Schooling his face into a casual, neutral expression, Eddie strode out into view. TK spotted him and smiled politely.

“Great working with you, man.”

“Great working with you too,” Eddie said automatically, barely paying attention to him as his eyes strayed past TK to Buck. He was gawping after the Texas firefighter, jaw hanging slightly open, brows furrowed. Eddie had never wanted to be able to read someone’s mind so badly as he did now, because for all the shock on Buck’s face he still couldn’t decipher the truth beneath it.

“Where’s Hen?” Eddie asked, the only words he could summon when faced with those confused blue eyes and his own whirring mind.

*

Hen was just heading down the slope to join the boys at the truck when her phone rang.

“Hello? Bobby. What’s up? Ah. You’ve been talking to Chimney. And watching the news. Look, it honestly wasn’t as bad as it must have looked on TV...we’re fine. I was with the captain of the 126, it was fine. Yes, he did start talking to someone who wasn’t there...but he’s over that now. OK, get Chim on the phone, I’m gonna give him a piece of my mind!”

*

“So, you and the solider, hey?” Paul said, nudging Marjan’s shoulder as they sat in the ATV, waiting for the rest of the 126 to get back. “Well I’ve gotta hand it to you...he’s hot. Talk about a power couple.”

“Shut up,” Marjan snapped. “It’s not like that.”

“Oh sure,” he said, nudging in the ribs with his elbow. “ _Firefox_...”

Marjan pulled a face at Paul, but he didn’t miss her small smile of pleasure.

“So come on then, what’s on this demi-god’s Insta?”

Marjan allowed him to see her phone screen as they scrolled through Eddie’s page.

“What we looking at?” TK asked, jumping in the back of the ATV and leaning over between their shoulders.

“Soldier Boy’s Instagram. Marjan’s new bestie.”

“Ooh, let me see, he’s hot.” TK leaned in, then paused as they both looked round at him. “Don’t tell Carlos I said that.”

Marjan rolled her eyes and scrolled through Eddie’s photos for TK. The younger firefighter frowned in confusion as photo after photo passed their gaze. And then...

“Oh...”

“Oh what?” Marjan asked.

“I think I might have made a mistake...”

“Which one?” Paul asked.

“Funny.”

TK pointed at the camera roll.

“What do you both see in there?”

Paul and Marjan frowned at each other and back at the screen.

“Who’s in almost all of those pictures?” TK prompted.

“His son?” Marjan asked. But recognition dawned on Paul’s face.

“Buck.”

TK nodded.

“What did you do?” Paul asked, twisting to look over his shoulder at TK, who grimaced.

“Why do you assume I did anything?”

“That look on your face.”

TK scowled at him, and Paul smirked.

“Well?”

“I might have assumed he was hitting on me and told him I had a boyfriend...”

“Why did you assume he was hitting on you?”

“I dunno, he gave off that vibe...” TK pointed at the phone. “And I wasn’t wrong! It just turns out my radar was a little bit...off. It’s not me he’s interested in.”

*

“What’s up?” Eddie asked, as Hen reappeared, shaking her head at her phone..

“Chimney,” she huffed. “He might have told Bobby about my little helicopter accident...”

“Is that ‘little helicopter accident’ like ‘little building collapse after an earthquake’?” Buck asked, and Hen scowled at him.

“Look who’s talking, Mr ‘Getting-Crushed-By-A-Fire-Truck-Wasn’t-Enough-For-Me-So-I-Nearly-Drowned-In-A-Tsunami-Instead.’”

“Harsh.”

“Fair.”

“Anyways,” Eddie interrupted them, and Hen returned to her story.

“Bobby told us to take our time coming back. Make a road trip of the return journey.”

“I’ve got a better idea than that.”

Judd had approached while they were talking, surprisingly quiet for a large man.

“We’re hitting the bar tonight. First responder special – only open to emergency services who dealt with the San Angelo Fire. Think your parents would be up for you pushing your visit back a day so you can join us, Hollywood?”

Eddie nodded thoughtfully and glanced at Hen and Buck to confirm.

“Getting to go to an actual bar after six months going between work and my apartment? Count me in,” Buck said.

“I’m game, but we didn’t exactly come dressed for the bar,” Hen said, gesturing to their smoky uniforms.

“Don’t worry ’bout that,” Judd said. “We’ve got you covered.”

*

The 126’s fire house was like something off an interior design programme on TV. Lots of grey concrete and open spaces and glass walls, not to mention the fanciest bathroom Eddie had ever seen. Buck sent off a raft of pictures to Bobby, petitioning for a redesign of their station and pleading for the 118 to adopt their own fire house dog when he met Buttercup. Judd showed them to the bunk room, empty during the day, showed them where the spare towels and toiletries were kept, and said the team would be back to collect them in the afternoon ahead of their night out.

Too tired to shower first, Buck and Eddie fell into two empty bunks and almost instantly passed out. Hen stayed awake a while longer in the kitchen to call Karen, then joined them to catch some much-needed sleep.

The room was deliberately cool and dark with no windows, so it was hard to tell what time it was when Eddie started awake several hours later. For a moment, he was back at war. Canvas flapped above him and the smell of smoke hung in the humid air. He could hear the whump of helicopter rotor blades overhead and shouts echoing in the distance. A splinter of panic wedged itself in his chest, and he gasped in a lungful of Texas air. Wait. Texas air. Not Afghanistan. He was back in his home state.

His breathing returning to normal, Eddie frowned up at the ceiling, reorienting himself to the smell and feel of Texas. He hadn’t realised that coming home would feel so welcoming and so stifling all at once; like putting on a once favourite sweater and finding it was now too tight.

Then he realised what had actually woken him up. Buck was thrashing around in his sleep in the bunk next to him like a drowning man, whimpering and muttering words that Eddie couldn’t quite catch.

Hen, with her eye mask and earplugs a few bunks away, didn’t stir as Eddie slipped out of his bunk and padded silently to Buck’s. His best friend’s face was racked with fear, even in sleep. His fists clenched tightly around the blankets, which had tangled around his legs, pinning him in place.

“Chris...keep swimming…your dad will find us...never gonna forgive me...Eddie...I’m sorry.”

The tsunami. Eddie had no idea that Buck had been dreaming about it. Until recently, he thought Chris was the only one who had come out of that day with mental scarring. Now it was clear that Buck had been keeping his own trauma secret from them all.

“Buck.”

Eddie placed a wary hand against Buck’s shoulder and shook it gently, careful to stand out of range of flailing limbs. With a start, Buck jolted awake, gasping in lungfuls of air, wide eyes searched the darkness unseeingly until they landed on Eddie, and came back into focus.

“Eddie?”

Eddie nodded.

“You had a bad dream, you were kicking and calling out in your sleep.”

Buck sat up and rubbed a hand across his face. The other hand was fisted tightly around the blanket, knuckles white with exertion.

“I was back on the pier, and the ground was falling away below my feet...and Chris was swept away and I couldn’t reach him...then something dragged me under the water, and I couldn’t get back to the surface...I was just breathing in water...”

He shuddered involuntarily, and his gaze was a thousand miles away again. Eddie sank carefully onto the bunk beside him.

“You been getting these dreams for a while?”

Buck nodded.

“Started around the time of the lawsuit.” He shrugged. “We weren’t speaking, so I never mentioned it to anyone.” Buck reached forward and untangled the blankets from around his feet, and Eddie noticed a faint shake to his hands. “It comes and goes. I’ve been so wiped with all the extra shifts we’ve been pulling because of Covid that I haven’t had one of these dreams in months.” He turned a sheepish look up at Eddie. “Sorry for waking you up.”

“Hey, I’m glad I did. You needed someone to bring you back to reality, and there’s only one of us it was gonna be.” Eddie jerked a thumb over at Hen, still sleeping peacefully. Buck managed a weak snort, but his eyes were still downcast, his hands still clutching the blankets tightly.

“Hey,” Eddie said softly, and Buck tilted his head up to meet his gaze again. “You’re not the only who gets bad dreams.”

He’d meant it as a reassurance, to pull Buck out of his dark thoughts. But as Buck’s head tilted to the side, blue eyes widening in understanding, Eddie he realised he’d revealed more than he intended.

“The helicopter,” Buck said. It was a statement, not a question. Eddie nodded.

“When we jumped out of the truck, for a minute I felt like I’d jumped straight back into Afghanistan. You and TK were so far ahead of us you didn’t see, but I had to take a second, take a breath, before I could take another step closer to that chopper.”

Eddie stared at the blankets, not seeing them, feeling blood slick on his fingers again, the sting of the bullet wound in his shoulder. Wondering if he’d really chosen to travel thousands of miles from his wife and son to die alone in the desert.

“I never asked you how you felt about the war,” Buck said quietly. Eddie shrugged.

“There’s nothing to feel about it. It was my job. I went out there, I did my job, I got hurt, I came home. I did my tours and I left. Not everyone was so lucky.”

“I don’t mean how you felt about going to war,” Buck said. “And you know that. I meant how you felt since you got back.”

“I never had the time to think about how I felt. Christopher needed me. My marriage imploded. I didn’t have the time to fall apart.”

“Have you ever thought about...talking to someone about it?”

“You know I hate therapy, Buck.”

He meant to shut the discussion down, but he didn’t expect Buck to flinch like his words had landed a physical blow. Eddie frowned at him, but Buck looked away and wouldn’t meet his gaze. Eddie cast around for the right words.

“Look, you know I’ve never clicked with Frank. I don’t find it easy to talk about my feelings. It was easier to just put them aside and focus on Chris.”

“Is that any way to live?” Buck asked, finally looking back at him with those earnest ocean eyes. “Not letting yourself feel anything because you won’t let yourself stop and take a breath?”

Eddie sighed.

“You sound like Bobby. He once told me didn’t want me to feel like I had to lose everything to feel something.”

“He’s our captain for a reason. He’s not often wrong.”

Eddie tried to smile, but it came out more like a grimace.

“Well I’ve done a terrible job of trying to make you feel better about your bad dream by making it all about me. Now my work is done, we should probably get some sleep. Especially if we’re hitting a bar tonight – Texans like to party.”

Eddie rose slowly to his feet and stretched. Their conversation had left him unbalanced and vulnerable. He’d felt so confident being back in Texas, and one night terror – for both of them – had sent him into tailspin. More than that, Buck was hurting, and he’d never realised. He’d failed him as a best friend, and he couldn’t even do anything to help. He wasn’t exactly qualified to fix Buck’s life when his own was such a mess.

It was a struggle to stand, fighting the urge to stay at Buck’s side. But, before he could take a step away, Buck’s hand shot out and gripped his wrist, as if he’d read his mind.

“Eddie...”

Eddie looked down at their hands and up to Buck’s face. The desperation he saw there struck a chord deep in his chest.

“Could you...stay here a while?”

It was dark, with only a dim glow from outside to illuminate their faces, so Eddie told himself he was imagining the flush across Buck’s face. He didn’t let himself think about what that might mean, didn’t let himself think about anything but the frightened, vulnerable expression he’d seen on Buck’s face during his nightmares. Eddie swallowed and nodded once.

“Sure,” he replied quietly.

Buck turned back the covers without a word, and Eddie slipped into the bunk beside him. He was very aware that his heart was hammering against his chest where he’d barely noticed it beating before, and he wondered if his best friend would be able to feel it. It was unbelievably hot with two of them in the bunk. Eddie hadn’t shared a bed with anyone – except when Christopher had the occasional nightmare and insisted – in years. Having anyone next to him again would have felt weird, but this was _Buck_. Somehow, every single point of contact between them seared Eddie’s skin like a brand. But at the same time as he contemplated the oddness of sharing a bed with his best friend, being almost as close as was physically possible, he also felt himself relax and exhale, like he’d been waiting for this moment for years. Like sleeping at Buck’s side was completely natural.

The fire house bunk was also about the smallest possible bed they could have shared, so there was no choice but to sleep close together.

Well, he was here to prevent Buck having any more nightmares. To hell with it, this was already a test of his nerve and resolve. Might as well go all in.

Summoning his courage, Eddie slipped an arm around Buck, curling it across his chest and pulling him in close so his chest was flush against Buck’s back. Now their bodies were pressed together from chest and shoulder all the way down to their feet, which Buck tangled together almost automatically, as if they’d done this before and had a routine. It was just for reassurance, Eddie told himself. He was here to keep Buck safe from the demons that stalked his mind, that was all. Like a living comfort blanket. Nothing more than that. But as he settled his body against Buck’s, Eddie realised that his best friend wasn’t the only one who needed protecting from their nightmares tonight.

“I got you,” Eddie murmured, his mouth close to Buck’s ear, and felt Buck shiver below him. It took all the willpower he possessed not to turn Buck gently to face him and press his lips to his.

It was going to be a long few hours.

*

Buck woke to the sound of footsteps ringing out against concrete and stopping at the foot of his bunk. He blinked slowly awake, and realised two things at once.

Eddie was still in his bunk beside him, one arm wrapped securely across Buck’s chest and his warmth radiating through Buck like a fire. Once he’d repressed, with immense difficulty, the urge to let his hands wander across every inch of Eddie pressed into his back, the hours that followed had offered Buck the most peaceful sleep he’d had had in months.

The second thing was that TK was standing in front of them, with the biggest grin on his face.

“I owe you an apology,” he said, keeping his voice low. “I misread the signals...it wasn’t me you were crushing on _at all_...”

“Shut up,” Buck hissed, panic spiking in his chest, and cringed at his sixth grade response.

“Hey, I’m not here to judge,” TK said, holding up both hands in a surrendering motion, the grin still etched across his face. “But my boyfriend and I don’t look anywhere near as cute as you two when we sleep.”  
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Buck muttered. TK shot him a look that called bullshit on Buck’s denial, but he didn’t push the issue further.

“I just thought you might want a wake up call, late breakfast’s in ten. Good job I came in to get you, not someone else, huh?”

“Yeah, thanks,” Buck muttered sarcastically.

“I’ll leave you to wake these two.”

Buck nodded, and TK started to leave. Part way across the room Buck called across to him.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, TK.”

He heard the other firefighter’s soft laughter as he left them to it.

*

_Text conversation between Chimney Han and Henrietta Wilson_

**Hen Wilson:** They shared a bunk last night

 **Chimney Han:** Say what?

 **Hen Wilson:** Buck. And. Eddie. Shared. A. Bunk. Last. Night.

Well, this morning really, but you know what I mean

 **Chimney Han:** 😮

Just so we’re clear...you all had your own bunks, right?

 **Hen Wilson:** We were the only ones in a room with about ten bunks…

 **Chimney Han:** Damn…🤯

Did they see you watching?

 **Hen Wilson:** Did they hell! They didn’t have a clue. I had to go to the bathroom and I saw them on my way out. By the time I came back, I think they’d shifted even closer together

 **Chimney Han:** **W** ow…😲

Question is...who was Little Spoon? 🥄

 **Hen Wilson:** 3 guesses…

 **Chimney Han:** Buck

 **Hen Wilson:** 👏

 **Chimney Han:** Have we missed something? Have they been together all this time?

 **Hen Wilson:** Don’t be ridiculous. They’d never be able to keep that a secret from us

 **Chimney Han:** Must be something in the air in Texas…has all that smoke inhalation done something to their inhibitions?

 **Hen Wilson:** Whatever it is, it’s gonna make our trip to the bar tonight interesting…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: We're going line dancing at the honky tonk bar...🤠🤠


	3. My Mistake To Make

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On their last night in Austin, the 118 go line dancing with the 126...🤠🤠

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys, this one nearly broke me. I thought it would be easy to write a little line dancing scene at the bar, that freestyling without the structure of canon would be easy. Oh boy, was I wrong.
> 
> This took AN AGE to write, because I spent an inordinate amount of time researching line dancing. I watched tutorial videos, TV and film clips and footage of people line dancing in bars. I learnt two line dances, and listened to country music pretty much exclusively for two straight weeks.
> 
> There's still so much I wish I'd been able to include, but we're already just shy of 10K words for this chapter alone, so...good luck. I really hope you enjoy reading. And if you make it to the end, thank you!
> 
> [FYI: Buck’s outfit is literally a copy of what we saw in the promo photo for Buck Begins, and Eddie’s I stole right from Ryan Guzman’s character Jake in Pretty Little Liars. Hold those pics in your mind for me throughout this...]

Despite watching Eddie and Buck like a hawk all day, Hen got no hint from them that anything had changed. By the time Buck woke her that afternoon, Eddie was already up and in the shower, and Buck was keeping an unusually straight face. They spent the rest of the afternoon with Judd and Grace Ryder, who took them out to eat and then back to their house to get ready for a night out in Austin. They’d also provided clothes, and Hen stepped warily out into the living room once she’d dressed, relieved to see that she was the first one back.

“I see you’re quicker at getting dressed than your friends,” Grace smiled, offering her a drink.

“Those pretty boys need all the time they can get in front of the mirror.”

“I tell Judd he always takes longer than me, but I think he’s still living in denial.” Grace tilted her head to the side and regarded Hen. “So you’ve never line danced before…?”

Hen’s eyebrows rose sceptically.

“Do I look like I’ve done a lot of line dancing in LA?”

“Well then you’d better have a lesson before we get there so you can keep up.”

Grace stood and gestured for Hen to join her in the middle of the room.

“I’ll teach you the Footloose dance. That should get you through the night, you can make the rest up. Now this is a grapevine.”

Grace took a step to the side with her right leg, crossed her left leg behind, stepped her right leg across and brought the left one to meet it with a stomp. Then she took it back the other way. Hen gamely tried to copy her, suddenly very grateful Buck and Eddie were taking their time. She could almost hear the echo of Chim’s laughter, as if he were in the room with them now.

“And this is a K-Step.”

“Ooh, are we having line dancing lessons?”

Buck appeared, dressed in pale blue jeans, brown boots and a plaid shirt, and strode to join them in the middle of the room, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet with enthusiasm. “What are we learning?”

“You’re just in time for one of the most important moves in line dancing,” Grace smiled. “Heel Clicks.” She demonstrated. “Really bring them together so you get the sound.”

“How Wizard of Oz,” Hen muttered, but she and Buck both lined up and gave it a go, following the short routine Grace showed them. They were so absorbed they didn’t realise they had an audience until Judd laughed, and their little line spun as one to see him standing with Eddie in the doorway.

“Hey, what’s going on out here?”

Judd held two cowboy hats in his hands, and Eddie watched them with a fond smile, a grey cowboy hat already balanced on his head. Buck’s jaw nearly dropped to the floor, and Hen elbowed him in the ribs.

“Line dancing 101,” Grace said. “Just showing our Californian friends how we do things in Texas.”

“Well don’t let them forget these,” Judd said, brandishing the cowboy hats at them.

“I’m not a hat person,” Hen replied, eyeing the hats dubiously.

“Now that’s not a very open attitude, Miss Henrietta,” Judd teased, and Hen sighed.

“Fine. But the first one to laugh –” she shot a warning glare at Buck and Eddie “– is gonna wish they’d never been born...”

“Dunno why everyone’s looking at me,” Buck pouted, as Eddie raised an eyebrow at him.

*

_Text conversation between Chimney Han and Henrietta Wilson_

**Hen Wilson:** Stetsons. FFS. I tried so hard to avoid being a Texas cliché, but they got me on the last night

 **Chimney Han:** Explain…

 **Hen Wilson:** We’re going line dancing at a honky tonk bar

 **Chimney Han:** 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Please GOD send me photos 🤠🤠🤠

 **Hen Wilson:** It’s a good job Buck 1.0 didn’t live in Texas...

Eddie obviously fits right in. I think I actually heard the sound of Buck’s jaw hitting the floor when he came out in all denim and a cowboy hat…

 **Chimney Han:** Pho-tos! Pho-tos! Pho-tos!

 **Hen Wilson:** [PHOTO – Hen in a light blue denim shirt, dark jeans, cowboy boots and a stetson, looking incredibly embarrassed]

I think I might die of shame

 **Chimney Han:** You look like some badass sheriff, it’s a good look

What about the others?

 **Hen Wilson:** [PHOTO – Buck in a plaid shirt, blue jeans and a cream cowboy hat]

[PHOTO – Eddie in a black shirt, black jeans and grey cowboy hat]

[PHOTO – group photo of Buck, Hen, Eddie, Judd and Grace cowboy gear]

 **Chimney Han:** I have no words.

*

The bar was low-lit, with a raised dais for the band along one wall with American flags hanging either side. Booths lined the side of the dance floor, and neon bulls’ heads and stars scattered the walls, along with old sepia photos of Austin. The whole place carried the hint of stale beer and spirits, but there was an air of excitement and the well-worn boards of the dance floor were spotless.

“All that’s missing is a rodeo bull,” Hen muttered to Buck, both of them gawping around them.

“Nah, they only bring that in for the 4th of July!” Judd teased, laughing. “Why don’t you, Grace and Buck grab a booth? Hollywood and I’ll get the drinks in.”

The rest of the 126 arrived in bursts as they settled into a booth. Owen arrived with paramedic captain, Tommy Vega, and Paul, Marjan and Mateo arrived in a three, talking excitedly about a roller derby.

“I see Judd managed to get his hands on you,” Paul laughed as he clocked Hen and Buck’s outfits. Hen cringed, but Buck grinned and shrugged.

“Why not? When in Texas...”

“Exactly, Buck, that’s what I’m talking about,” Judd said, clapping him on the back as he and Eddie returned with drinks. Hen noticed Buck’s eyes land on Eddie and stop, unable to look away. “These wimps here refuse to dress up like authentic Texans,” Judd continued, gesturing to Paul and Marjan.

“That’s because we’re not authentic Texans,” Marjan pointed out, and Judd scoffed as he handed them their drinks.

“Hey Carlos, settle this for us!” Paul shouted, as the final member of their group arrived, fingers linked with those of a handsome Latino man with serious eyes. “Dressing up as cowboys, cultural appropriation or getting in the spirit?”

“What did Judd say? I don’t plan on landing myself in his bad books,” came the response, and Judd cheered and slapped him on the back.

“Oh, so is this the serious boyfriend?” Buck asked TK, smirking at the chance to get him back for that comment earlier that still had him reeling. TK flushed and Carlos eyed him with amusement.

“Carlos, this is Buck and Hen and Eddie,” TK said. “From the 118 in LA.”

“Good to meet you,” Carlos smiled and nodded to them all, wrapping his arms protectively around TK’s waist from behind. Hen clocked Eddie watching them behind his beer with a thoughtful expression, caught the tiny look he darted over to Buck and then looked away again before anyone else could see. And she saw Buck watching TK and Carlos with a wistful expression, and the way he stared – a lot more openly – at Eddie, a reflex reaction that he wasn’t even aware he was doing. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes with difficulty.

Around them, the dance floor was filling up. Judd approached Grace and tipped his hat to her, and Owen balanced his own hat on his head and offered his hand to Hen.

“Can I have this dance?”

“I’m not sure this is my scene, Owen...”

“I insist, Hen. Least I can do for partner in the field is show her a good time, Texas-style.”

“I’d take it as a compliment,” Marjan told her. “Cap never asks the rest of us to dance with him.”

Hen shook her head in resignation.

“Fine, but count yourself lucky. I don’t dance with guys that often.”

“And, as my team will tell you, I don’t dance with anyone that often,” Owen told her, leading her onto the floor.

“How about you, Firefox?” Eddie asked Marjan, who smiled at the nickname. Buck hid his scowl behind his beer bottle.

“I’m not exactly line dancing material.”

Eddie flashed her one of his more charming smiles.

“I can teach you if you want a lesson?”

Marjan smiled.

“OK, you’re on, soldier.”

Buck finished the bottle off on that comment.

Mateo followed them up alone to try his luck with some of the single ladies on the dance floor, leaving Buck, Paul and Tommy sat watching from their booth. Buck sipped at his beer, watching Eddie and Marjan moodily as Paul and Tommy made small talk. When Tommy excused herself to go to the bathroom, Paul turned to Buck and followed the direction of his gaze.

“Don’t worry, Marjan saw his Instagram. She knows he’s off limits.”

Buck frowned.

“What do you mean? What’s on his Instagram?”

Paul looked at Buck incredulously.

“Uh, you are dude. In literally every photo.”

Buck’s face reddened.

“Well, we’re best friends. And his son, Christopher, is one of my best friends.”

Even to him the best friend excuse sounded like it was wearing thin. Paul arched an eyebrow at him but didn’t push it, and Buck took another sip of beer rather than dig himself into a deeper hole by shooting his mouth off.

*

Buck prided himself on his self-control where Eddie was concerned. In the last two years he’d only lost his mind once, and Eddie had been more than thirty feet below the earth at the time so it didn’t fully count. But tonight he was having to draw on every ounce of self-restraint he possessed.

It all started when Eddie strutted out of Judd and Grace’s spare bedroom, where they were all taking it in turns to get dressed. Actually _strutted_ out, like Buck had never seen him walk before. His boots rang out on the floor, his back jeans hugged his ass in a way that Buck had never seen in any of his other clothing, and the black denim shirt he wore clung to his chest and arms. He even had one of those flat plate belt buckles, and his hand kept drifting to it automatically as they spoke on the way into the bar. Which of course drove Buck’s gaze down there with it…

Buck had promised himself he would behave himself tonight. He knew he wasn’t in any danger of reverting to Buck 1.0 – that version of himself was a distant memory now, and the girls scattered across the bar held no interest for him. No, the real danger was in keeping his eyes and his thoughts to himself and not giving himself away. It was just a lot harder when he was several drinks down, obliterating his inhibitions.

And when Eddie looked this good? Impossible. The way he bit his lip in concentration and swung his hips was so mesmerising it should be illegal. Buck’s skin flushed fiery hot with want as he watched him. How had he never known Eddie could dance all the time they’d known each other? And then Eddie dropped his head and tugged the brim of his hat down a little, and Buck knew he’d never been in as much danger of crossing the line than he was tonight.

“Looking good, Hollywood! I guess you are Texan after all!” Judd shouted as he passed by him with Grace, and Eddie threw back his head and laughed. Buck’s stomach swooped. He hadn’t seen Eddie this carefree in a long time. Happiness looked good on him.

“So what’s the deal with you two?”

TK had sidled silently up to Buck while he was watching Eddie. Buck played dumb and took another swig of beer, realising that the bottle that had been full not that long ago was already almost empty.

“What do you mean?”

“Does everyone know you’re together, or are you keeping it a secret?”

“Umm, we – we’re _not_ together...”

TK’s eyebrows rose.

“I’m sorry, you _see_ the two of you together, right? You telling me that’s just platonic?”

“Eddie’s my best friend.”

Yep, it was definitely wearing thin now, and TK clearly didn’t buy it any more than Paul had.

“Marjan and Paul are besties, but you don’t see them looking at each other like they’re about to make out up against the side of the fire truck.”

“It’s not like that...Eddie’s straight.” Buck looked down at the table and picked at the label of his beer bottle with his nail. “He couldn’t be more straight.”

“Sure...cause I share bunks and spoon with all my straight best friends too...”

Buck gave up and slid out of the booth, heading for the bar. Part way he stopped, spun around and came back.

“Look, when you thought I was hitting on you...”

“Yeah...sorry about that...”

“It’s fine. Why did you think I was?”

TK shrugged.

“I just got that vibe, you know? I mean, you really put yourself out there for me, and for my dad, and I guess I just assumed when you suggested we hang out in LA sometime that it was because you were interested.”

“That’s just how Buck is.”

Unheard by them, Hen had returned from dancing with Owen. Now she stood protectively next to Buck, pinning TK in place with a piercing gaze.

“Buck’s loyal to a fault. He would throw down his life for literally anyone in this bar, even if he’s never met them. You should see what he does for the people he really loves.”

TK held his hands up in a surrender motion.

“I didn’t mean to overstep, I just assumed you were...”

“I’m not,” Buck said quickly, then shrugged and added, “I mean, I’ve never labelled myself. I don’t like labels. I just – I like who I like, and gender doesn’t really come into it.”

Hen shifted a little closer so their shoulders touched, a silent nod of solidarity.

“I’m gonna get another drink,” Buck muttered, and ducked away. Hen sighed and excused herself to go the bathroom, and Carlos slid into the seat beside TK that Buck had vacated.

“Maybe it’s time you gave him a break,” he said, his tone amused.

“Hey, what can I say? It’s tragic to see two guys so obviously into each other but too afraid to make the first move.”

“Maybe there’s a good reason for that,” Carlos suggested.

“Nah. Life’s too short. If you love someone, you should tell them,” TK declared.

“Oh really? Is that so?” Carlos said, eyebrows rising, and TK blushed and bit his lip.

*

Eddie and Marjan returned to the group, both grinning and breathing hard from dancing. As Eddie took a swig of beer, eyes scanning automatically for Buck, Mateo whooped as if he’d heard his thoughts, eyes across the room.

“Looks like Buck’s about to get lucky!”

As one, their gazes swivelled to follow. They landed on Buck, beer in hand, sandwiched between three girls from a paramedic crew from the next county over. Each of them seemed pretty invested in getting him to dance, and even from here they could see the way their eyes raked across Buck’s toned arms and chest.

Eddie felt his heart sink a little. Buck 1.0 was a thing of legend at the 118 now, but Eddie sometimes wondered if a part of Buck still belonged to that past version of him, the one that liked to sleep around with all the fun and none of the commitments. And when he was surrounded by not one but three pretty girls, on a night out for the first time in six months, away from home with no one besides Eddie and Hen to judge him, would the temptation prove too great? Eddie knocked back another swig of beer. What should it matter if Buck wanted to hook up with some random girl? He didn’t own him. Buck was his best friend, not his property.

But...the longing wouldn’t go away.

“Doesn’t look to me like he’s enjoying it that much.”

The most perceptive of all of them, Paul was frowning across the room at Buck and the girls like he was examining the contestants on a reality show.

“How can he not enjoy that sort of attention?” Mateo asked incredulously.

“Oh probie, you’ve got a lot to learn,” Paul sighed.

“Yeah, not everyone likes being looked at like they’re a piece of meat,” Marjan said.

“Maybe I should go and rescue him,” Hen sighed. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Eddie, who until this point had been scowling darkly behind his bottle of beer and doing a bad job of hiding it, straighten up like he was about to go and intervene.

“Don’t worry, I got this,” TK smirked, and Eddie tensed territorially. Oblivious, TK wove across the bar between groups of paramedics and firefighters from Texas and beyond. Buck saw him approaching and looked up with relief in his eyes.

“Buck, I’ve gotta borrow you back. Sorry ladies,” TK said. “His boyfriend’s waiting for him.”

Sighs of disappointment quickly disguised, the girls wished them a good night and moved away.

“My _what_?”

“Oh come on, are you telling me you can’t feel his scowl burning into our backs right now? ’Cause I sure can.”

Buck shot TK a silent plea to drop it, which he ignored, throwing an arm around Buck’s shoulders and guiding him back towards the booth.

“Dude, I dunno why you’re resisting this so much. I’m telling you, he’s as into you as you’re into him. That’s good news, right?”

“It’s not that simple,” Buck said quietly.

*

Back in the booth Eddie and Tommy had gotten onto the topic of kids.

“I have two girls,” Tommy smiled, getting out her phone and showing him her lock screen photo of her family. “Their dad’s having a slumber party with them right now while Mom gets to hit the town for the first time in what feels like forever, and that’s even before the pandemic.”

“I know that feeling. I think this might be the first night out I’ve had in at least a year,” Eddie nodded, taking a sip of his beer.

“You’ve got children too?”

“A son. Christopher.”

“Oh, Christopher is the best!”

Tipsy Buck returned from the bar and slid into the booth beside Eddie, bumping up close against him so they touched from shoulders to hips and sliding him a new bottle of beer. Eddie relaxed into him subconsciously, accepting the drink and smiling fondly at the mention of his son. Buck fumbled his phone out of his pocket and pulled up his camera roll, launching into a monologue about Christopher.

“He’s got CP, but he’s the bravest, most positive kid I’ve ever known. He doesn’t let anything get him down, he’s always got a smile on his face. He’s an artist, loves drawing and painting. And he’s so funny too, you know the way kids are funny without really knowing it?”

Buck scrolled through his photos, picking out his favourites of Chris and recounting the stories behind them as he showed them to Tommy.

“It must be tough,” she said sympathetically, sitting back and regarding Eddie and Buck. “Both of you being away from him at the same time to be down here. I hate being away from my girls, it’s only because my husband’s on furlough at the moment that I could bear to leave them.”

“Uh...” Buck said, his face reddening as he darted a glance at Eddie.

“Umm, we’re not together. We’re just friends,” Eddie clarified in a rush, rubbing the back of his neck.

Paul, sat next to Hen over the other side of the booth to them, was overcome with a coughing fit at that point that sounded an awful lot like _“Bullshit”_ , and Hen thumped his back to cover it.

“Oh I’m so sorry, that’s totally my bad, I shouldn’t have just assumed –” Tommy said, looking mortified.

“It’s fine,” Eddie said. “Buck and Chris are best friends, he’s practically family. Easy mistake to make.”

Buck looked at with an unreadable expression, his face still red. Knocking back the last of his beer, he stood up abruptly.

“Come on Hen, let’s go dance.”

Buck grabbed Hen’s hands and dragged her to her feet, pulling her in the direction of the dance floor. She let him because she could feel the embarrassment radiating off and knew he needed an escape route, but as soon as they were out of earshot she arched an eyebrow at him.

“Do you even know how to line dance?”

“How hard can it be?” Buck grinned.

“I’m not sure about this, Buck. These people have been dancing since they could crawl...we might seriously injure ourselves. Or somebody else.”

“Copperhead Road’s an easy dance, you’ll be fine.”

“And how do you know that?”

Buck smiled at her mysteriously, the sparkle returning to his eyes.

“I’ve lived many lives, Hen...”

Hen gave him the Athena Grant Glare for that one, and Buck laughed as they lined up with the crowd. Marjan, Paul and Mateo snuck into their line just as the dance started, watching Buck curiously as he gave Hen a quick lesson.

“Now, swing your right leg out, heel tap and back, then hop onto the left and do the same. That’s it, one, two, three, four. Then swing your leg like this –” Buck swung his right leg to the left, folding it around his knee and back again, then repeated it on his left leg. “Then count four kicks again, then this.” He did a twist stomp that took him around a quarter turn, and Hen gawped.

“OK, where the hell did you learn this? Was this some sort of YouTube rabbit hole at 3am again?”

“Hey, that happened one time...”

“You made us all learn how to do the hand jive from Grease.”

“It’s a classic! And Bobby was surprisingly good at it!”

Hen opened her mouth to question him again, but then the music really kicked in and she had to concentrate.

*

Buck’s dancing was a revelation. After _Copperhead Road_ came _Cotton Eye Joe_ , and then _Timber_ , and he stomped and swayed his way expertly through them all. After that, Hen insisted on sitting down for a while, and Buck danced her back to their booth.

“Please someone go with him,” Hen begged, sliding into a seat beside Eddie, unintentionally blocking his exit.

“I’ll go,” Marjan volunteered, to Buck’s surprise. But he covered it well and they returned to the floor.

“Buck’s quite the dancer,” Carlos commented.

“For a Californian,” Judd snorted.

“He’s from Pennsylvania,” Eddie corrected, without even seeming to realise he was doing it. Judd frowned at Hen in confusion and she shook her head a fraction. Judd grined.

“Well for someone who’s not from the south like us, Hollywood, he ain’t half bad.”

“How can you still stand, let alone dance?” Mateo asked. “Isn’t that like your fifth beer now?”

“Us southerners been doing this since we could walk. Doing it drunk just makes it more fun!” Judd laughed.

Out on the floor, _Footloose_ started playing.

“Well at least I know the song,” Marjan said, watching the dancers either side of them for directions.

“This is an easy one, follow my lead,” Buck said enthusiastically, and Marjan copied his moves, laughing despite herself.

“Hey, you’re not a bad teacher,” she said. “Where d’you learn this – are there a lot of line dancing bars in California?”

Buck shook his head.

“I didn’t learn this in California.”

Marjan waited but he didn’t elaborate, and they grapevined to the right as the song picked up pace.

“Hey, you know I wasn’t staring at you yesterday because I was being weird or trying to hit on you?” Buck shouted finally, over the music. It dawned on him that two members of the 126 had mistaken his actions for flirting over the past few days, and he made a note to dial back on how he was with strangers.

Marjan raised an eyebrow.

“Well I wouldn’t blame you if you did. You’re only human,” she replied. Coming from anyone else, it might have sounded insufferably arrogant, but Buck laughed because it was just so on-brand.

“I was just a little starstruck. I thought we did some cool stuff at work, but you might just have the edge on us. I mean, you’re _Firefox_ , you’re a total badass.”

Marjan’s smile this time was genuine and dazzling.

“Well Eddie told me about you helping him build his kid a skateboard. That’s pretty cool.”

“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for that kid,” Buck beamed. “Christopher is amazing.”

“Seems there’s not much you wouldn’t do for Eddie either,” Marjan said shrewdly, and Buck flushed and missed a step.

“Does _everyone_ know?”

“Everyone with eyes...”

Buck sighed.

“And I thought I was being subtle...”

“Sorry to burst that bubble, but no,” Marjan laughed. “As soon as we saw how many photos of you were in Eddie’s Insta feed, Paul knew something was up. And he’s right, isn’t he?”

Buck nodded once, short and sharp, and said nothing.

“Hey, your secret’s safe with me. But maybe you should, you know, tell him? Rather than pine over him from a distance? I mean you only live once.”

*

_Text conversation between Chimney Han and Evan Buckley (using Henrietta Wilson’s phone)_

**Henrietta Wilson:** CHIM!

Judd said I couldn’t hold my whiskey but I proved him wrong

Though I am seeing two Eddies right now

Not that’s that’s a bad thing...

They have a dog here. It’s called Buttercup. We need a dog.

 **Chimney Han:** …

Whoever this is, return Hen’s phone to her before she kicks your ass or I call the police

 **Hen Wilson:** Whoa, whoa, Chim, it’s me!

 **Chimney Han:** _Me_ doesn’t narrow it down...

 **Hen Wilson:** It’s Buck!

 **Chimney Han:** Buck? What are you doing with Hen’s phone?

 **Hen Wilson:** She went to the bathroom

 **Chimney Han:** And left her phone with you?

 **Hen Wilson:** I resent that tone. I am very trustworthy thank you. I keep lots of secrets

 **Chimney Han:** What secrets are you keeping Buck?

 **Hen Wilson:** I have secrets! Big secrets! You wouldn’t understand...no one understands...

But TK said something earlier and now I think I might be in love with Eddie…

 **Chimney Han:** Who’s TK?

Wait, that wasn’t the important part of that sentence. Ignore that! I have a better question for you!

 **Hen Wilson:** Oops, I just sent you something by accident

 **Chimney Han:** If it’s a selfie, you’d better be wearing clothes...

 **Hen Wilson:** _Chim, I did something that ranks pretty high on our Buckley Scale of Brave But Dumb..._

_It involves a helicopter, a mineshaft and two crates of TNT..._

_Not sure I’m gonna get out of this one this time...and maybe I don’t deserve to…_

_If I don’t come home, please promise me you’ll look after Karen and Denny and Nia_

_I’m sorry. I gave it everything I had, but the fire outran us_

_Thank you for being the best friend I’ve ever had. I love you_

_You’re gonna be such a great dad._

**Chimney Han:** ...Is this some kind of prank Buck?

 **Hen Wilson:** What’s the Buckley Scale of Brave But Dumb?

 **Chimney Han:** Never mind

Buck, what you said earlier...

 **Hen Wilson:** Oh shit, she’s coming back

 **Chimney Han:** Buck! Come back here!

 **Hen Wilson:** Hey Chim, sorry, Buck’s had one too many whiskeys trying to keep up with Judd and Eddie. You should see him dance though 🕺 He’s definitely done this before! Though I thought those legs of his were going to take someone out during Copperhead Road...

What did he say?

 **Chimney Han:** Scroll up

 **Hen Wilson:** 😳 Oh

I never meant to send that...was a worst case scenario kind of message

 **Chimney Han:** The fact you wrote it means you must have been pretty sure it was worst case scenario

 **Hen Wilson:** I was trapped in a mineshaft with an unconscious helicopter pilot and a fire captain who was legit seeing dead people 🧟♂️

Don’t let it go to your head, I was high on smoke inhalation and lack of oxygen, I’m allowed a moment…

What other chaos did Buck unleash while he had my phone then?

 **Chimney Han:** Scroll further up

 **Hen Wilson:** 😲🤯😲🤯😲🤯

WTF did I miss when I was stuck in that mineshaft?!

 **Chimney Han:** Who’s TK?

 **Hen Wilson:** Fire captain’s son. He and Buck bonded over captain-dad issues and shared brain cells. They were gonna steal a fire truck and charge off to rescue us before Eddie and the others busted them. Then they _all_ stole the fire truck and came to get us

 **Chimney Han:** Classic Buck

At least he’s not stealing the truck to have sex in it anymore

 **Hen Wilson:** Haven’t we gone off topic here?

 **Chimney Han:** I keep doing that! 🤦♂️

So you read that the same way I did, right?

We have proof right here ☝️☝☝ of what we’ve suspected for two years!

 **Hen Wilson:** Yeah, but you haven’t seen him tonight

It took A LOT of beer and whiskey and tequila for him to admit that to you

And that was only by text

I’m not sure he’d be ready to admit that to anyone out loud, let alone act on it, if he were sober

 **Chimney Han:** It might not just be the alcohol...

 **Hen Wilson:** ??

 **Chimney Han:** Don’t tell anyone, I probably shouldn’t be saying anything...

 **Hen Wilson:** Well then maybe you shouldn’t –

 **Chimney Han:** Buck’s in therapy

 **Hen Wilson:** What for?

 **Chimney Han: 🤷♂️** It’s private therapy. He paid for it himself, the Dept don’t know.

The therapist was his Covid crush

 **Hen Wilson:** HA! I TOLD YOU she wasn’t his girlfriend!

Sorry, bigger picture

I think that’s brave of him. It takes a lot in this job to admit you need help. We’re meant to be the fixers, not the ones who need fixing. I’m proud of him

D’you think anyone else knows?

 **Chimney Han:** Only me and Maddie

 **Hen Wilson:** I’d better go. I just heard Mateo challenge Buck to a tequila shots challenge, and if he takes him up on it I’m gonna have to fireman’s lift him into an Uber. He’s like 80% leg, I’ll fall over trying to carry him and we’ll both end up in the emergency room...

We’ll catch up when I get back. Tell 🥭 Aunt Hen says hi!

 **Chimney Han:** You know, I’m glad they stole that truck, and if I’d been there I’d have done it myself. I need my best friend back here with me in LA

You know I love you too Hen

 **Hen Wilson:** Shut up Chim

...You’re gonna be an awesome dad

*

Buck was back in the booth and nursing what he’d promised himself would be his final drink of the night when Eddie nudged his shoulder.

“So are you gonna show me some of this fancy footwork, or are you saving it all for Hen and Marjan?”

Buck hesitated, giving himself a few precious seconds to turn the words over in head before he answered. Because it sounded a lot like...

“Eddie Diaz, are you asking me to dance with you?” Buck laughed, alcohol giving him the courage to respond in a flirty tone that he would never have used at home.

Rather than answer him, Eddie held his gaze and Buck shivered, despite the heat in the bar. Because Eddie was a confident guy normally, but being back in his home state seemed to have given him an extra shot of swagger that melted Buck’s insides.

“You coming?” he asked finally, rising to his feet. And Buck nodded dumbly and followed him without another word.

When they were finally out of earshot, Paul leaned over towards Hen.

“I’m not imagining that level of tension, am I? Are they a thing?”

Hen smirked.

“Oh they’re a thing. They just don’t know they’re a thing yet.”

“Well I’m telling you, I am _exhausted_ from just one day running around after them,” TK said, leaning against their table. “How do you ever get anything else done?”

“We have to leave them to figure it out themselves, or we’d never save anyone’s life ever again.”

*

When they hit the floor, Buck allowed himself a moment to orient himself within the music and the stomping of their fellow dancers. With a grin, he started snapping his fingers to the beat, nodding his head in time. And, as the verse started again, he and Eddie moved as one and joined the flow of dancers.

Despite showing off with Hen and Marjan earlier, Buck hadn’t actually line danced in a good few years, so he was glad the moves were still imprinted somewhere in the back of his mind. With every bar of music the rhythm drew him back to the steps, and he spun and kicked and stomped his way across the room in perfect time with the rest of them.

Their boots thudded against the boards, and with whiskey, beer and tequila flowing through his veins, Buck let loose. As they clapped and spun, Buck caught sight of Eddie, and felt a shot of satisfaction at the impressed expression he saw there. Eddie’s eyebrows arched as their eyes met, but he said nothing, just watched Buck with that intense gaze that felt as intimate as a touch. Emboldened by alcohol, Buck held his gaze, and then deliberately let his drop, to Eddie’s lips and then sinking further, past his jaw line to his chest and hips. When he looked back up at Eddie his eyes had darkened, tracing their own line down Buck’s body. Suddenly very aware of the flush on his face and the hammering of his heart, Buck twisted his hips away from Eddie and stomped on the boards, thankfully still in time.

Watching them from the booth, Marjan shook her head.

“I don’t know how I ever thought he was flirting with me. That’s practically indecent.”

“ _How_ are they not dating again?” Paul asked Hen, who shook her head.

“I’ve never seen them like this. I mean, you usually can’t get a pencil in between them anyway, they have no sense of personal space with each other, but this is something else.”

Out on the dance floor. Buck was wondering much the same thing. Maybe it was the delirium of practically no sleep and too much smoke inhalation, but the air felt charged with possibilities. Something about the night – the clothes, the alcohol, the strangers, the dancing – had loosened them up and shaken free the feelings Buck both fought so hard to conceal. And maybe, just maybe, he hadn’t been the only one hiding his true feelings all this time.

*

The song shifted, a little slower but with much more complicated footwork. Eddie had to stop himself from gawping at the easy way Buck adapted, the way his body naturally found the right moves, copied the other dancers effortlessly. For someone who was such a disaster on ice, this was a revelation. Eddie leaned a little towards Buck as they danced, hands drifting automatically towards his belt buckle. He saw Buck’s eyes dart down to his waist and felt his throat dry up.

“So American Kids has complicated footwork for a beginner,” Eddie said, forcing a light, casual tone. “You’re no beginner at this, Buck.”

“No, I’m not,” Buck replied simply, returning his eyes to Eddie’s face briefly before he turned away and stomped forwards in time with the other dancers in their line. Eddie raised an eyebrow.

“What, that’s it? No story?”

Buck shrugged, but didn’t elaborate, still following the steps of the dance, mostly accurately, though he did step on Eddie’s toe as they sidestepped. Eddie frowned, torn between amusement and concern at the amount Buck kept hidden from them.

“You know I think you’re all out of surprises, and then you pull something like this out of the air.”

“Hey, you’re not the only one who’s got moves,” Buck teased.

“You had moves _before_ I knew you could dance,” Eddie replied, and Buck’s eyes widened. However, his brain hadn’t sent the message to his body to stop dancing, and Eddie had to jump to the side as Buck swept his foot around.

“Those legs of yours are lethal.”

“So are those chiselled soldier-cowboy looks,” Buck said, then started as he realised he’d said the words out loud. He tried to cover it with a slide step, but tipsiness finally prevailed and he overbalanced, stumbling into Eddie, who flung out his arms to save him face-planting the floor and found himself bent halfway over, holding Buck up in his arms.

“Talk about falling for a guy,” Buck muttered, and Eddie's stomach swooped. Realising what he’d said, Buck flushed bright red and stood up fast, nodded uneasily to Eddie and made a hasty exit out the front doors.

*

It was still humid in Texas, even at night, but at least the air was a little cooler and fresher than the rank humidity that hung over them all day. Buck sank down onto a low wall out the front of the parking lot and took a deep breath of night air, fanning his face with his hat. This bar was just outside Austin, far enough that the stars were visible in the inky sky. For a city full of stars, LA was a little short of the ones that shone the brightest.

“What are you doing out here by yourself?”

Buck’s stomach flipped as Eddie crossed the parking lot to join him. Silhouetted in the half-light from the bar, he couldn’t look more like a cowboy, in his dark clothing and tanned skin, boots ringing out against the ground.

“Just needed a bit of air,” Buck said, putting his hat back on to hide the feelings he knew were written too clearly across his face. “Shouldn’t you be in there, hanging out with Firefox?”

“I could be,” Eddie said, sitting down on the low wall beside him. “I chose to come and look for you. Is that OK?”

Buck nodded.

“Besides, you looked pretty cosy with TK earlier.”

Hope spiked in Buck’s heart at the edge of jealousy he heard in Eddie’s voice.

“Nah, he’s not my type. Though that didn’t stop him from thinking I was hitting on him the past few days.”

“Bit of an assumption on his part.”

He definitely heard it that time. Jealousy hardened the words as they fell from Eddie’s lips, and Buck had to bite back a smile.

“Oh yeah,” he said instead. “He thought me inviting him to hang out if he ever finds himself in LA was a come-on, so he made sure to tell me that he already has a serious boyfriend.”

He darted a sideways glance at Eddie, secretly enjoying the effect his words were having. Whatever strange magic Texas had cast over them, he was going to enjoy it for as long as possible. Because the fragile dreams he’d nurtured in secret all this time, that he’d never really fully admitted to himself before today, actually seemed within reach tonight, under the stars and the heady influence of alcohol, subject to the eyes and thoughts of outsiders.

“And how did TK know that you didn’t already have someone at home?” Eddie asked. Once again, his words danced at the edge of suggestion, hinting at something more that Buck wasn’t brave enough to explore.

“I guess I just look lonely,” he said, the corners of his mouth turning down as Maddie’s words echoed in his head.

“Not to me. Who’s telling you that?”

Buck shrugged.

“Doesn’t matter. I’m working through some stuff anyway.” He bit his lip and stared as the ground, twisting his fingers together in an uncharacteristically nervous gesture. He hadn’t planned to tell anyone else about the details of his therapy sessions, but now the words just slipped out.

“I’m seeing a therapist. Not one from the Department. It’s not for work. It’s for me. To help me figure stuff out.”

He glanced at Eddie, biting his lip, and Eddie sighed and looked away as realisation dawned.

“And I told you I hate therapy.” He looked back at Buck. “Buck, I meant for me. I don’t have a problem with anyone else going to therapy. You’re so much more open with your emotions than I am. Therapy will be good for you.”

“Actually, my emotions are something I’m working on with Dr Copeland.” It felt good to say her name out loud, not to hide her existence behind the mask of a fictional girlfriend. “Because she’s helped me realise that I have a habit of hiding my true feelings.”

Eddie smiled, bemused.

“But you’re one of the most open people I know.”

Buck shrugged an acknowledgement.

“For some stuff, yeah. But not everything. There’s some stuff that no one gets to see...not even you.”

Eddie tilted his head to one side, curious.

“Your parents,” he said quietly.

Buck’s head shot up, and he looked at Eddie sharply.

“What about them?”

Even the tone of his voice had changed, and Eddie could see a sudden tension that wasn’t there before coiling through his body.

“You never talk about them. Neither does Maddie. They’ve never been to visit you here in LA, despite the fact that you’ve been in and out of hospital three times in the past year.”

Buck looked down at the ground.

“Lots of people have a weird relationship with their parents,” he said. “Just part of being a dysfunctional modern family.”

“Yeah, but to you and Maddie it’s like they don’t exist. My parents aren’t perfect, but they’re here. Yours are completely absent from your life.”

“Well, why would they break the habit of a lifetime?” Buck asked darkly. He glowered at the ground, and Eddie’s eyes widened in surprise at how down just talking about his parents made Buck. And although he desperately wanted to know what had happened to make him this way – and found himself hating Buck’s parents by proxy – he regretted bringing them up at all. He didn’t want them to be the reason for Buck not enjoying himself tonight, and for him to be the reason Buck spent the end of the night dwelling on the past rather than enjoying the present.

Inside the bar, the music shifted again to something slower, and Eddie felt a rush of adrenaline, the sudden urge to do something reckless and utterly selfish. He rose to his feet and held out his hand, grateful that it was steady, without a hint of shake.

“So you proved you can line dance. Can you slow dance?”

Buck stared down at Eddie’s outstretched hand, then slowly looked up at him, as if he was checking Eddie was serious. To prove it, Eddie took half a step closer, his hand still extended.

It was such a simple action, but it came loaded with such heavy meaning. Taking Eddie’s outstretched hand meant openly accepting something that he had been hiding from himself and everyone else for so long. It was stepping past one point of no return, and rushing head-on for the next. And once they crossed that line, there would be no coming back.

Buck swallowed, and stretched his hand up to meet Eddie’s. As their palms met, Eddie tugged on his arm and yanked Buck up to standing. Buck stumbled and Eddie put his other hand out to steady him. And he didn’t let go. One hand settled on Buck’s shoulder, and the other on his hip. Hesitantly, Buck mirrored him, burning with heat where they touched. They were silent, watching each other rather than say a word, and their feet moved without conscious direction, turning them slowly across the parking lot.

“The hat suits you,” Buck said finally, allowing himself a moment to look his best friend up and down appreciatively again. “Why have I never seen you wearing one of these before?”

“Not much call for them in LA,” Eddie said slowly, his eyes never leaving Buck’s.

“Missed opportunity. You should start a trend.”

“Well as you keep telling me, Henleys and plaid aren’t about to set the fashion world on fire. I don’t think cowboy hats are about to do it either.” He laughed. “I’m just too uncool for LA.”

“Are you kidding me? You’re the third coolest person in LA after me and Chris.”

Eddie shoved him gently for that one, shaking his head and smiling.

“And right back at you – this cowboy getup suits you pretty well too.”

And there it was. The moment, the tipping point. They’d been building up to it without even realising, and now Buck could feel the tension crackle between them like an electric current.

“I think there’s some other feelings I hide from others,” Buck said finally, his voice low. “At least, _I_ thought they were hidden, though not according to everyone else.”

Eddie waited silently, eyes fixed on Buck’s. The only sound was the scuff of their boots against the tarmac, the faint music drifting out from the bar into the humid night.

“What feelings are those?” Eddie asked quietly, when the silence had stretched on too long for him to bear any longer.

Buck bit his lip and Eddie’s eyes unconsciously followed the motion.

“I think you know,” Buck told him.

Surprise flashed in Eddie’s eyes. Hope and uncertainty broke through his natural reservations, and Buck’s heart soared, even as a little voice in the back of his head told him to apply the brakes, that they weren’t ready for this yet.

Eddie brought them to a standstill, chest to chest, but he didn’t let go of Buck’s hands.

“I’m afraid you’re gonna have to spell it out for me,” he whispered. Buck took a deep breath and leaned into the shot of courage the alcohol charging through his system had given him.

“TK was way off about me flirting with him...but he wasn’t so way off about the rest.”

He had Eddie’s undivided attention, those brown eyes burning into him, and Buck swallowed before he continued, throat drying up. They were standing so close he could feel the warmth of Eddie’s breath against his cheek.

“Him, Hen, Paul, everyone here has been trying to tell me the same thing. And I refused to see it for so long. I thought it was just that I’d never known what it was like to really have a best friend, and that I was confusing being friends with something else. But I’m not.”

Hidden beneath the canopy formed by the brim of their hats was like being in their own little world. High off the smell and feel and warmth of Eddie, against him and around him and filling every one of his senses, the words Buck had avoided even thinking, let alone saying, for so long, flowed out of him.

“I’m crazy about you, Eddie. The way I feel about you scares me sometimes, because it’s so beyond anything I’ve ever felt before. I can’t let myself look at it directly, you know? Like the sun. Because if I stop and really look at it, I think it might burn me up. So I tried to hide it, but every day I spend with you it gets that little bit harder. And then seeing you tonight, looking like _that_ , it’s been all I can do not to...”

Eddie shook his head and surged forward, closing the gap between them and pressing his lips to Buck’s. And it was the warmth of a fire in winter, and the heat of a wildfire blazing out of control, and the red-hot sparks of fireworks exploding across the sky on the 4th of July. As Eddie brought a hand up to cup the side of Buck’s face, Buck wrapped an arm around Eddie’s waist, pressing his body flush to his. Their lips moved against each other in urgent confirmation of every moment dismissed or explained away the past two years. Every barrier they’d constructed fell away, surrendering control to an outpouring of long pent-up desire. When they broke apart briefly for air, Buck’s blue eyes were blazing and Eddie’s were darker than Buck had ever seen.

“You’re not the only one,” Eddie murmured. “I’m crazy about you too, Buck.”

Their lips collided again, and Buck curved his hand around the back of Eddie’s head, nails raking through the short, soft hair at the nape of his neck. Eddie coaxed Buck’s mouth open, and Buck could taste the fire and smoke of the whiskey on Eddie’s tongue. With a soft moan he grabbed the lapels of Eddie’s shirt and pulled him closer. They backed up against the wall of the bar, and Eddie knocked Buck’s legs apart with his knee, pressing his leg in tight against Buck’s thigh. His hand gripped Buck’s belt and Buck rolled their hips together, making Eddie gasp.

Eddie trailed his mouth along Buck’s jaw and down, dropping his head to suck and bite at the sensitive hollow of skin at the base of Buck’s neck. Buck moaned and tilted his head back, fingers digging into Eddie’s shoulders and glazed eyes staring up at the stars.

But it turned out that not even the stars were worth not being able to have his lips on Eddie’s again, so Buck lifted Eddie’s chin and kissed a line along his jaw back to his mouth. It was messy and desperate and hungry and _perfect_ , and despite the little voice in his head telling him this was all too fast, he had never been happier –

The door to the bar banged as it closed, and Buck and Eddie broke apart, breathing hard. Lips and neck tingling, head spinning, Buck vaguely registered Owen Strand crossing the car park in the direction of a car that had pulled up, waiting for him. He caught sight of them and lifted his hat in a wave, clocking that this wasn’t the moment for a long goodbye.

“Goodnight fellas,” Owen called.

“Goodnight, Cap.”

Buck wasn’t sure which one of them said it, or whether they both said it in sync. He was staring at Eddie, taking in his flushed face and swollen lips, his rumpled shirt and dark eyes. Watching his chest heaving with ragged breaths. As Owen climbed into the car and it pulled away, he took the magic of the night with them. It was enough to sober Buck up and send his brain spiralling.

Kissing Eddie had stopped his world dead. All coherent thoughts were gone from his mind, and all Buck wanted, with every fibre of his being, was to step forward and kiss him again. But he had to find the words somehow, because he was still too messy and broken for someone like Eddie to take a chance on him. Because this was the most important relationship he’d ever had, and if they took things too quick, jumped into something without being sure, then they would ruin everything.

He had to say something, before Eddie turned those soft, vulnerable eyes on him. Before he kissed him again and every rational thought completely deserted him.

“I’m not ready for this...with you.”

Eddie jolted back as if Buck’s words were a physical blow. He backed up a couple of steps, and Buck felt the loss of his body heat instantly, missed his closeness as if they’d been apart for days not seconds.

“Buck, I...” Eddie blew out a breath and tilted his head to the sky. Panic rose in Buck’s chest as he saw Eddie’s agonised expression, the way his eyes suddenly sparkled with the threat of tears. And still, the alcohol was slowing his brain and his words, and he couldn’t fit them together in the right order.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen...I shouldn’t have had so much to drink," Buck tried again, hearing a drunken slur to his voice that hadn't been there before. "I let my guard down, and that was a dumb move, because you deserve more...”

Why couldn’t he find the right words? He wanted to tell him that this, _us_ , and whatever potential it might hold, was way too important to throw away over a drunken fumble in a parking lot. That Eddie meant more to him than anyone else he’d ever met, and that he wanted to be sure that he was a whole and functioning human before he embarked on something as risky as a relationship with the best friend he’d ever had? That he couldn’t imagine himself with anyone else ever again, and that he just needed a little time to be the man that he wanted to be, that Eddie deserved?

Why had every faculty deserted him right now, when he needed it most?

“I’m sorry, Buck,” Eddie said finally, quietly, his voice cracking with pain. “I should never have done that.”

With one final, agonised look at Buck, Eddie spun on his heel and strode back into the bar.

Buck had watched a lot of the people he loved walk away. He had thought he was getting used to it, becoming numb to the pain. But now, watching Eddie walk away and knowing it was because of something he’d said – or not said – a fresh bolt of pain lanced his chest and nearly brought him to his knees. Apparently, everyone else had just been preparing him for this. Because this pain was worse. Worse than when Maddie left him at home with his cold, unfeeling parents. Worse than when Abby left him and never came home. Worse than when Ali decided that the life of a firefighter’s girlfriend was too great a burden to bear. Worse than the way he felt when he filed that stupid lawsuit, and his team looked at him as if he were a stranger.

He’d always thought that love was meant to heal you, not break you. But right now, standing alone in the parking lot, Buck had never felt more broken.

*

_Text conversation between Chimney Han and Henrietta Wilson_

**Hen Wilson:** Chim, something’s happened

 **Chimney Han:** I know...

I let you go off by yourself for a week and you nearly died…

THREE TIMES!

 **Hen Wilson:** Not that

 **Chimney Han:** Admittedly you did it in style. Helicopter crash, wildfire, blowing up a mineshaft...

 **Hen Wilson:** Not what I’m talking about, Chim...

 **Chimney Han:** But Karen and I have decided that you’re not allowed to leave LA ever again without one of us coming with you…

 **Hen Wilson:** CHIM!

 **Chimney Han:** What?

 **Hen Wilson:** I’m not talking about me. Something happened with Buck and Eddie

 **Chimney Han:** 😲🤯😲🤯😲🤯

Like what? How do you know?

 **Hen Wilson:** So their dancing at the bar last night was nothing short of foreplay. Then they both disappeared for a bit, came back separately looking upset, and they’ve being really weird with each other ever since. They’ve spent all morning jumping or blushing whenever the other one appears, avoiding eye contact, sitting as far apart as they possibly can

 **Chimney Han:** 😧 Ooh, that doesn’t sound good...

Do you think they had sex in the bathrooms?

 **Hen Wilson:** Too Buck 1.0.

And not Eddie’s style

I know something happened at that bar last night. I’m just not sure it’s good… 😔

 **Chimney Han:** 😧

*

A hangover mixed with anxiety and regret was the worst cocktail Buck had ever tasted.

He’d finally crept back into the bar about ten minutes after Eddie had walked off, and Hen took one look at him and decided they needed to call it a night. After a tense cab ride back to the fire house, Buck alternated between throwing up in the bathroom and tossing and turning in his bunk, wondering just how badly he’d managed to screw up his entire friendship with Eddie in one night.

The lack of sleep showed on both their faces the next morning, and Hen took one look at them and announced that she would take the first drive. Buck sat up front with her and slept in the passenger seat, suddenly weary to the bone. When they reached Junction, Buck volunteered to swap with Hen, and she took his place in the passenger seat, with a few worried glances back and forth between Buck and Eddie. Buck pretended not to notice and kept his eyes fixed on the road, mainlining water and coffee and planning damage control.

“I’ll drive the rest of the way to El Paso, Buck,” Eddie said when they reached Ford Stockton. It was the first thing he’d said to him since they climbed into the truck that morning. Swallowing nervously, Buck jumped down from the driver’s seat and ran through what he wanted to say.

As Eddie rounded the side of the truck and Hen sloped off to the gas station toilets, Buck held out the keys and launched into it before he could panic and forget the speech he’d prepared.

“Eddie, about last night, I –”

“There’s nothing to say,” Eddie shut him down, his expression closed.

“But I didn’t explain properly –”

“Look, let’s just draw a line under it,” Eddie said, shaking his head. “No one else knows what happened, let’s just keep it that way. I don’t to ruin things between us, and I’m sure you don’t either.”

“Well no...”

“Well there you go,” Eddie took the keys from Buck and sighed. “What happens in Texas, stays in Texas.”

*

Eddie managed to hold his expression until Buck had rounded the truck away for him, headed for the gas station with a face that said he was barely holding it together. Once he was out of sight, Eddie slumped against the side of the truck.

He hadn’t wanted to say that to Buck. But something about what they did last night had clearly freaked Buck out, and this way he gave him an easy out. Eddie could have kicked himself. He’d let his guard down, being back in Texas and letting loose for the first time in what felt like years. He’d put his heart first, and look where following it had led him.

Maybe Buck wasn’t as ready as he thought he was to confront his feelings, and worse than trying to erase what happened last night would be striking out on another failed relationship. Eddie had been burned once before, he wasn’t about to let it happen again with the most important person in his life. He didn’t think he could come back from that. And it would break Christopher’s heart if they broke up and then Buck disappeared from his life.

No. Far better in the long run to keep each other at arm’s length, for the sake of their friendship, than throw caution to the winds and risk it all.

He’d still had to force the words out though. Every single one stuck in the back of his throat, and seeing Buck’s face, desperate to get his point across, crumple as Eddie shut him down, had nearly been his undoing. But he’d stuck to his guns, convinced that it would all be worth it in the long run. Wouldn’t it...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End Notes: Come yell at me in the comments…
> 
> EDIT: So I asked, and you DID yell at me in the comments...;lesson learnt! Rest assured there WILL be an epilogue to this, and it will have a happy ending! I'm not a fan of angst without a happy ending, but I always intended for them to kiss and for it to be left unresolved on their return to LA. The epilogue will be a separate one shot, where Buck and Eddie finally manage to resolve the angsty mess they've gotten themselves into.
> 
> Coming Soon: We Get Wildfires in LA Too...
> 
> Playlist:  
> Boot Scoot Boogie – Brooks & Dunn (first dance – also featured in S1 of Lone Star)  
> Copperhead Road – Steve Earle (Hen and Buck’s first dance)  
> Cotton Eye Joe – Rednex (mentioned – Buck and Hen’s second dance)  
> Timber – Pitbull and Kesha (mentioned – Buck and Hen’s third dance)  
> Footloose – Kenny Loggins/Blake Shelton (Buck and Marjan’s dance)  
> Whiskey Drinkin’ – Mikel Knight (Buck and Eddie’s first dance)  
> Fake ID – Big & Rich ft. Gretchen Wilson (Buck and Eddie’s second dance)  
> American Kids – Kenny Chesney (Buck and Eddie’s third dance)  
> Slow Dance in a Parking Lot – Jordan Davis (obviously inspired a whole scene)  
> My Mistake - Cam (inspired the chapter title)
> 
> Honourable Mentions:  
> Singles You Up – Jordan Davis  
> Aw Naw – Chris Young  
> That’s My Kind of Night – Luke Bryan  
> Kick The Dust Up – Luke Bryan  
> Sorority Girl – Luke Bryan  
> Bartender – Lady A  
> Long Hot Summer – Keith Urban  
> Flatliner – Cole Swindell and Dierks Bentley
> 
> Links:  
> Copperhead Road dance to music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LWfnJyZgP0  
> American Kids dance to music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gscYyXoQDWM&t=0s  
> Footloose Fake ID dance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lgCxWubUnU  
> Ryan Guzman line dancing in Pretty Little Liars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_EsWGfvF2o

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Kudos and comments are fuel, and make this never-ending lockdown we’re living through in the UK that little bit more bearable!


End file.
